Some Americans Pay More for Back Pain Relief, But Are They Really Getting Less?

Payless recently conducted a very telling social experiment. You probably heard about the shoechain’s stunt in the news but just to recap quickly, “The Payless Experiment” tricked consumersinto buying their typically budget-friendly shoes at sky-high markups. To carry out the cleverruse, the discount retailer invited style influencers to a (fake) launch party for a new high-endlabel in one of Los Angeles’ glitziest shopping areas. The attendees believed that they werebuying fashionable, high-quality footwear and therefore didn’t object to the three-figure pricetags.

Aside from being a brilliant marketing ploy for Payless, what lessons does “The PaylessExperiment” have for our current healthcare system, and specifically for patients suffering fromlow back pain? The experiment is a commentary on perceived vs. real value but also how easilypeople can be swayed into believing that something is reliable as presented. Think aboutsomeone who has had weeks of pain and dysfunction stemming from low back pain: she wantsto find a solution that will relieve her symptoms. If a physician presents surgery as the bestoption—and she’s assured that her pain will go away—then it’s going to sound appealing, right?

Today’s consumer has so many choices when shopping for just about anything from apparel tohealthcare. But while it’s customary to shop for the best price for a goose down jacket (withoutsacrificing quality), shopping around for the best solution (and value) for our ailments is lesstypical. Doing our due diligence in healthcare may ultimately bring us back to the first proposedsolution, but it also may introduce us to solutions that we didn’t know existed.

In the case of low back pain, one such under-heralded solution is physical therapy. Physicaltherapy, yoga and acupuncture are gaining in popularity as equally (or more) effective and lesscostly than surgical procedures, injections, MRIs and pain relievers—and for good reason.Physical therapists are trained to restore and improve patients’ mobility, reduce soft tissue pain,improve function and build muscle strength. They not only develop custom strategies to treatpersistent or recurrent low back pain, but educate patients on the prevention of future issues.Some preventive techniques include adopting and following a regular exercise program andlearning to lift correctly by keeping the object close to the body.

As the holidays kick into high gear, you likely have a long list of gifts to buy. I’m willing to guessthat you have a strategy in place for selecting appropriate gifts for each recipient. As you matchthe right price point, size and color to each person on your list this holiday season, think aboutapproaching your healthcare needs with the same level of scrutiny. After all, finding the rightsolution at the right price for our health needs contributes to improved long-term outcomesand better piece of mind.